By 
Tyrone 0-18
Down 1-11
THE McKenna Cup might not count for much in the wider scheme of things, but Tyrone have still held up to their end of the bargain thus far by accounting for Down in testing conditions at Pomeroy today.
Successive group stage victories represent a promising start to the season, and now they’ll participate in the semi-finals of the competition this coming Wednesday, where they will take on Monaghan with the venue to be confirmed.
It was decent enough fare on a blustery day at Plunkett Park. Four more lads made their senior intercounty debut – Ethan Jordan, Ruairi McCullagh, Joey Clarke and substitute Shane Hughes. For that alone, the McKenna Cup has been a worthwhile endeavour.
24 players in total saw game-time yesterday, not a million miles away from a rolling subs scenario, though that comes with the caveat that two starters – Ruairi Canavan and Niall Devlin – were taken off with injuries early doors.
There were ample positives to take from the display and with 10 minutes remaining Tyrone were threatening to run away with it, but back-to-back two-pointers from Down’s Pat Havern kept the home side on their toes until the referee called time on proceedings. Still, it was a thorougly deserved win.
Tyrone led by 0-7 to 0-5 at the break, setting aside a period of wastefulness with a strong finish to the half with a flurry of scores from Conroy and Jordan, both of whom contributed handsomely in front of the posts.
Sub Mattie Donnelly landed two early points in the second-half following a Down penalty converted by Donal Scullion. A period of real supremacy saw Tyrone open up a comfortable lead with scores from Frank Burns, Aodhan Donaghy, Jordan and Conroy all splitting the posts.
Down came back into it with a brace of two-pointers from Pat Havern, but Tyrone held on to book their spot in the semi-finals with four points to spare at the final whistle.
Scorers
Tyrone: Ethan Jordan (0-6, 1 2pt f, 2f), Michael Conroy (0-5, 1 2pt, 2f), Mattie Donnelly (0-2), Aodhan Donaghy, Ronan Cassidy, Joe Oguz, Frank Burns and Joey Clarke (0-1 each)
Down: Pat Havern (0-7, 3f, 1 2pt, 1 2pt f), Donal Scullion (1-1), Ryan McEvoy, Daniel Guinness, Adam Crimmins (0-1 each)
Teams
Tyrone
Niall Morgan, Aidan Clarke, Rory Brennan, Michael Rafferty, Joey Clarke, Niall Devlin, Seanie O’Donnell, Conn Kilpatrick, Joe Oguz, Conor O’Neill, Ronan Cassidy, Ruairi Canavan, Matthew Og McGleenan,, Michael Conroy, Ethan Jordan. Subs: Ruairi McCullagh for Canavan, Michael McKernan for Devlin, Mattie Donnelly for Cassidy, Shane Hughes for Rafferty, Cormac Quinn for Clarke, Frank Burns for O’Donnell, Aodhan Donaghy for McGleenan, Peter McCaughey for Brennan, Nathan McCarron for Conroy
Down
Ronan Burns, Ryan McEvoy, Pierce Laverty, Pearse McPolin, Ryan Magill, Finn Murdock, Paddy McCarthy, Daniel Guinness, Tom Close, Donal Scullion, Pat Havern, John McGeogh, Peter Fegan, Ceilum Doherty, Adam Crimmins. Subs: Miceal Rooney for Crimmins, Patrick Brooks for Murdock, Callum Rogers for Magill
